


Curiosities

by missjo



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2014-02-11
Packaged: 2018-01-11 22:08:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1178517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missjo/pseuds/missjo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Thomas returns from America he notices Jimmy is acting, well, strangely.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Curiosities

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing smut in at least two years so I apologize if this is so not sexy.

Jimmy seemed more on edge than usual. Thomas couldn’t help but notice it, really, after observing him so closely in the months following the start of their delicate friendship.

Jimmy was always a fidgety sort but when he was on edge it was even worse. His fingers would drum out notes on any surface they came across -- table, wall, door frame -- and his right leg took on a terrible tremor. It hadn’t stopped even when they’d been serving the family at dinner that night. His head had also been generally, well, _elsewhere_. This had led to a few odd looks directed his way during the course of the day and more than one verbal slap from Carson.

Thomas couldn’t help but be worried about him.

When Jimmy sat down across from him for dinner his face was stony and withdrawn. Anna looked over and attempted to give him a kind word but his expression and the firm set of his shoulders seemed to dissuade her. Instead she turned her attention to something Baxter was saying and left him well alone. This was probably for the best because Jimmy looked fit to burst at any moment.

Dinner seemed to drag on forever. Thomas was so focused on Jimmy that he found it difficult to follow the stilted conversation going on around him. He wasn’t eating, he noticed, just pushing things around on his plate, and he hadn’t said a word since the meal had begun.

Thinking further on it, he realized Jimmy hadn’t quite been himself since Thomas’s return from America. This thought made worry twist painfully in his belly. Had he done something to offend Jimmy? Or had something happened while he was away?

The others steadily stood from the table to complete whatever tasks needed done before it was time for bed but Jimmy remained looking blankly at the table in front of him. Thomas had a few things that needed doing but they could wait, he decided, even if it meant getting up earlier in the morning. He was going to get to the bottom of what was troubling Jimmy.

He knew he would need a cigarette for this. He put one to his lips and lit it before sliding the pack across the table to Jimmy.

“Jimmy, is--”

“You never did tell me what you got up to in America, Mr. Barrow,” Jimmy cut him off with feigned nonchalance. He tapped the pack against the table once, twice, three times before finally pulling a cigarette out for himself and pressing it between his lips.

“You never asked,” Thomas replied in the careful tone he often took with Jimmy for fear of scaring him off for good if he said the wrong thing. He decided it best not to point that it would have been difficult to tell him anything about America with the way Jimmy had been acting.

When Jimmy finally looked at him his gray-blue eyes were swirling like clouds in a storm. “Well I’m askin’ now, aren’t I?”

Thomas shrugged and blew out a plume of smoke. “Fair enough. What d’you want to know?”

“I just said, didn’t I?” Jimmy snapped.

Thomas hardly batted an eye; he was used to Jimmy’s moods. “I got up to what I get up to here, mainly, that’s the privilege of working in service,” he told him simply and tapped his cigarette against the ashtray.

Jimmy huffed impatiently. Thomas could still hear the rat-tat-tat of Jimmy’s boot against the floor. He gritted his teeth against the incessant noise.

“The great Mr. Barrow leaves for America and comes back without any good stories?” he asked with a sneer. “Pull the other one.”

“Alright then, if you’re gonna be nasty ‘bout it. We got up to a bit in New York for a night or two.”

Jimmy looked around the room to ensure they were alone before leaning across the table conspiratorially. “We? So you found a bloke then?” he whispered.

Thomas instantly cursed his slip of the tongue and tried to think of a way out of this but the it was no use. Jimmy practically leering at him was no help at all.

“I… did yes,” he admitted, shoulders tensing defensively.

Jimmy’s eyebrows shot straight up into his hairline. He had the habit of pulling the most ridiculously over-dramatic expressions. Usually it would make Thomas laugh out loud but this time he was feeling too uncomfortable for laughter.

“Really? What does a bloke have to show another bloke in New York?”

Thomas flinched at the question and stubbed his cigarette out with more fervor than was necessary. He was used to Jimmy being ignorant of the careful boundaries that had been put up between them but he’d always seemed clear on this one. Apparently he was not.

“Er. Well, Broadway for a start. You’d love it there,” he told him as pleasantly as he could manage around the awkwardness filling his chest. “There are theatres everywhere and the plays are--”

Jimmy snorted. “The theatre? Really, Mr. Barrow,” he drawled around a plume of smoke, “I know all about Broadway.”

Thomas suddenly felt very foolish and his stomach swooped uncomfortably. “Oh. Well. That was about it, really, aside from a few dinners,” he continued lamely. He hated himself for caring so much that he had nothing to tell Jimmy that he might find interesting, let alone exciting. It made him feel old.

Jimmy studied him for a moment and then purposefully stubbed his cigarette out beside Thomas’s. “So you went to New York, met a bloke, and then you out for a play and a bite?”

Thomas chuckled nervously. “Well, yes.”

“Right boring you are, Mr. Barrow. I never thought it of you,” Jimmy said almost cruelly. “What was the bloke’s name?”

“Timothy,” he told him stiffly.

“And was this Timothy bloke a looker?”

Thomas could feel sweat dampening his collar. “He was comely enough but it was his abrasiveness that I liked about him.”

“And was he your sort?”

Thomas loosened his tie so he could breathe a little better. Every fiber of his being was screaming for him to get out of that room and away from these awkward questions but the small, winning part of himself couldn't deny Jimmy any of his whims.

“Yes,” he admitted through gritted teeth. “Though why that should matter I--”

“And you honestly want me to believe all you got up to is a play and a bite? I never thought you took me for an innocent, Mr. Barrow.”

Thomas could feel the heat rising in his cheeks and hated himself for it. He hated Jimmy for his stupid questions. He hated himself for answering them. He bit the inside of his cheek and looked down at the ashtray resting between them.

“Just not sure why you’re so keen to know,” he replied coolly and looked back up at him.

Jimmy’s nervousness had returned, wiping the cocky sneer off his face. His fingers were beginning to tap out a staccato rhythm against the table.

“You just seemed so much more relaxed when you got back. I was wondering if you’d managed to get yer leg over,” Jimmy explained in a flat tone but his voice was shaky around the edges.

Thomas arched a brow at that.

“It’s the sort of thing regular mates talk about,” Jimmy added with a defensive sniff.

Thomas snorted and lit up another cigarette. There was nothing regular about their friendship and they both knew that. He took a long drag to steady his nerves. “I did. It was quite enjoyable. Satisfied?”

Jimmy nodded and lowered his gaze to the table. His boot was still tap-tapping and his fingers were drumming up a symphony now. There was just a hint of blush coloring Jimmy’s cheeks that left Thomas transfixed, unable to move from his spot. When Jimmy finally glanced back up at him the storm had returned to his eyes and there was determination in the set of his jaw.

“What is there to go on between two men anyway to make it so ‘enjoyable?’” he asked, his face screwed up into the kind of derisive curiosity only Jimmy seemed to manage.

Thomas choked on his smoke. “Pardon?”

“What sort of stuff does your lot get up to, anyway?” Jimmy rephrased in a carefully controlled flat tone.

If he was being honest, Thomas couldn’t tell if Jimmy was teasing him or not. He sniffed dismissively. “I don’t think you want me to answer tha’ and I don’t think it’s appropriate for the servant’s hall neither,” he said flippantly and took another long drag.

“ _Thomas_ ,” Jimmy spit out impatiently.

The sound of his given name on Jimmy’s lips still gave Thomas pause; he hardly ever used it, they both preferred Mr. Barrow in their day-to-day chatter, but when he did Thomas was all too aware of the power that so small a thing had over him. Some days he thought he’d survive his friendship with Jimmy and others he thought he’d go mad from it. Tonight was the latter, evidently.

“Fine.” He took a deep breath to steady himself. “There’s hands, of course.”

“Hands? Inventive,” Jimmy sneered and rolled his eyes. “Would never’ve gathered that one on me own. Please tell me you gave Wotsisname better n’ that.”

Thomas bristled. Fine, if Jimmy wanted to play at making him feel uncomfortable he could return the same in kind. And he’d win too.

“F’course I did. There’s mouths too. He quite liked that,” he told Jimmy plainly, feeling more brazen than he had in years.

“Mouths? Like… kissin’?” Jimmy asked, his face almost boyish in his unguarded curiosity. “Golly your lot are boring. I--”

“Not _only_ for kissin’,” Thomas interrupted with a pleased little grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Boy you _are_ an innocent.

Jimmy frowned. “Are not,” he snapped and crossed his arms defensively across his chest. He allowed his pout to drag on for a short while, no doubt for dramatic effect. Jimmy loved his dramatics. “What’re they for then?”

Thomas smirked around another plume of smoke. “I suppose unmarried dames don’t fancy puttin’ their mouths on your prick?” he asked smugly. “What a pity. Figured they would, seein’ as they’d still be a maiden for their husbands and there’d be no baby to worry about.”

He watched Jimmy’s face turn a truly delicious shade of red as the idea took root in his mind. Feeling triumphant he stood and put his cigarette out in the ashtray.

“Oh,” Jimmy whispered, eyes darkening before he looked away from Thomas.

Having won, Thomas was just getting ready to walk away when he spoke again. “What else?"

He froze. “Jimmy...” he cautioned. The game was over, had been won, and suddenly the uncomfortable feeling had returned, slithering around deep in his belly. “We shouldn’t be talking about this.”

When Jimmy looked up at him his eyes were wide, his cheeks were flushed, and his lips were parted in wonder. It was the most beautiful thing Thomas had ever seen. He had a sudden need to get out of there and away from him as quickly as possible.

“Why not? We’re just mates--"

“There is _nothing_ ‘just mates’ about this, Jimmy. This is inappropriate conversation. What I do is -- foul,” he flinched at borrowing Carson’s word but it was for his own good as well as Jimmy’s, “and you should have nothin’ to do with it. I should never’ve--”

Sometime during his half-hearted attempt to tell Jimmy off he had stood and made his way around the table. The pressing of one of his fingers to Thomas’s mouth stopped him dead in his tracks. He stared at him incredulously.

“ _You’re_ not foul,” Jimmy told him firmly.

“Jimmy--”

Jimmy was looking at his mouth, Thomas realized with a start. His heart pounded loud in his ears as he watched Jimmy swallow and take one step into his space. After a few breaths he blinked and stepped back, looking as if he’d just awakened from a dream.

“Thank you, Mr. Barrow,” Jimmy said then, his voice so husky and deep that it was almost unrecognizable. “You’ve given me a lot to think on.”

With a curt nod Jimmy left Thomas standing there with nothing but the lingering scent of him, wondering what in the hell had just happened.

***

Jimmy was most definitely avoiding him. And being cruel to him when he could not. It was making the days following their strange conversation unbearable. It reminded Thomas of how it had been between them in the year following The Incident and just thinking that he may have ruined everything by playing along with Jimmy’s idiotic game made him hate himself thoroughly.

Thomas had excused himself from dinner with a headache, unable to face Jimmy’s cool countenance for even a moment longer, and had spent the last few hours sprawled on his bed attempting to read a book. He couldn’t concentrate on the words with his traitorous thoughts constantly wandering back to their strange conversation; the way Jimmy had sounded, the way Jimmy had looked at him, all of it.

Something in his face had made Thomas think that Jimmy might --

Thomas groaned and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyelids, willing himself off that train of thought. Only madness and a pitiful wank were in that direction.

A knock at his door gave Thomas a start. He waited, sure he must have imagined it, but then another, most insistent knock came. Brow furrowed, Thomas went to open it.

Jimmy was standing on the other side of the door. Thomas was shocked by his appearance. If he was being completely honest Jimmy looked _unwell_. His perfectly coiffed hair had come awry, a few loose strands curling against his forehead, and his clothes were incredibly rumpled. He was looking at him with the wide eyes of a madman and his lower lip, Thomas noticed, was quivering.

“Jimmy,” he managed and swallowed.

Jimmy looked up and down the quiet hall quickly, fingers tapping out a rhythm against his thigh. “Can I come in?” he asked curtly.

Thomas cleared his throat and nodded. He stepped aside to let Jimmy by. Jimmy closed the door behind him firmly but didn’t move further into the room.

“Jimmy, is it wise to--”

“Everyone’s asleep.”

He nodded. “Right.”

They stood staring at each other in a tortuous silence that seemed likely to drag on forever.

“Damn you,” Jimmy whispered angrily. Only then did Thomas noticed the tears threatening to fall from his eyes. “I have tried so hard-- If it weren’t for you I could’ve--”

Thomas was deeply concerned now. “Jimmy?” he asked softly and took one cautious step towards him. “Are you alright?”

“No I’m not bloody alright!” Jimmy snapped.

“Right. Right. Well--”

Jimmy made a noise of frustration. “Stop talking, would you?” he demanded, his voice beginning to quiver. “Oh to hell with it.”

Before Thomas could react Jimmy had crossed the space between them, gripped his shirt in one hand, and pressed his mouth harshly against his. Unsure of what to do Thomas froze, afraid that any sudden movement might spook Jimmy and send him straight to Carson.

Jimmy pressed his mouth harder against his and raised his other hand to the cut of Thomas’s cheek. When Thomas still didn’t move he whined and opened his mouth, running his tongue along his full lower lip. He nipped at it lightly until Thomas finally gave in and opened his mouth to him with a soft groan of pleasure.

Jimmy echoed Thomas’s groan with one of his own and began to tug on his shirt. He stumbled backwards until his back was pressed against the wall and Thomas was pressed against his front.

“Your mouth. _God_ , your mouth,” Jimmy whined breathlessly into the warm space between kisses. “Yes. God _yes_ …”

Thomas’s hands floundered for a brief moment, unsure of what to touch first now that so much was being offered. He finally let them rest on the jut of Jimmy’s hip bones. Jimmy continued to babble helplessly into their mouths as Thomas experimentally rolled his hips against his.

Jimmy melted against him and gripped desperately at his shoulders. They kissed a little while longer before he pulled back and let his head fall against the wall behind him with a dull thwack. He gazed at Thomas with hazy eyes and tried to catch his breath, chest heaving with each inhale and each exhale.

“Your mouth… dreamed of it… _God_ , Thomas,” Jimmy whimpered, still clinging to Thomas’s shirt as if he feared he would collapse without it.

Thomas ran his mouth along the sweet curve of Jimmy’s neck until it brushed against the starched collar of his shirt. Reminded of how many layers of clothes there were between them, he was suddenly determined to get Jimmy out of them.

He made quick work of the buttons on his shirt with skilled hands and raked his fingernails down the thin fabric of his undershirt. Jimmy shrugged the shirt off and let it fall to the floor without ceremony before wrapping his arms around Thomas’s broad shoulders and pressing their chests together.

Thomas could feel Jimmy’s labored breathing against his cheek and Jimmy’s heart thrumming desperately beneath his hands. Intoxicated by it, he leaned in for another kiss which the other man returned with enthusiasm.

“Jimmy,” he gasped as he pulled away, reality hitting him square in the chest. “What’re we doing?”

Jimmy chuckled low and dirty. “Surely you’ve got an idea, Mr. Barrow,” he quipped between ragged breaths. He ran a hand down over Thomas’s chest and belly to rest on his hip.

“Jimmy, are y’sure? Do--”  
  
“I told you to stop talking,” Jimmy demanded and lunged forward to kiss him again. Their noses bumped and their teeth clacked with the clumsy force of it but then their lips slid against each other and it was so perfect it was blinding. “Mmf. Bed, Mr. Barrow."

Thomas allowed himself to be pushed across the small room towards the narrow, rickety cot. Jimmy shoved him down onto it and remained standing between his legs. His mouth went dry as he watched the other man remove his braces and divest himself of his undershirt.  

Jimmy was perfect. Thomas took in the golden planes of his chest and relished in the blush working its way all the way down to his collarbone. His cock stirred at the sight, going fully hard in a matter of seconds. He could feel it pulsing where it was straining against his trousers and shifted on the cot, the springs groaning under his weight.

It wasn’t until Jimmy cleared his throat and arched a brow expectantly that Thomas realized he was supposed to follow suit. He swallowed down his self consciousness and removed his undershirt with trembling hands. He let it fall to the floor and unfastened his own trousers.

Then he sat there feeling pale and old under Jimmy’s studious gaze. After a few breaths the younger man leaned forward to kneel on the cot between Thomas’s legs and pressed another warm, wanting kiss to his mouth.

He ran one broad fingered hand down through the dark hair on Thomas’s chest and let it rest against the softness of his belly. “Not what I were expectin’,” Jimmy admitted breathlessly against his mouth.

“Bad?” Thomas asked, panic flickering in his chest.

Thomas could feel Jimmy’s smirk against his mouth. “No, Mr. Barrow, not bad,” he reassured him in low tones and pressed him firmly down onto his back.

“Good,” Thomas managed to mumble before Jimmy’s mouth was on his once more.

Jimmy was pressing warm fingers against Thomas’s jaw and pressing his body down flush against his, allowing Thomas to feel the firmness of his erection pressing against his thigh.

Jimmy was _hard_.

Thomas chuckled with glee. He firmly gripped Jimmy’s hips and carefully rolled them over on the small cot so that Jimmy was sprawled out beneath him.

He paused for a breath to memorize the sight of him before surging forward to kiss Jimmy again. “What do you want, Jimmy?” he breathed out against those lips he’d spent so many hours dreaming about.

“Your mouth. Please, Mr. Barrow, I need your mouth,” Jimmy whimpered.

Thomas smirked against his lips and ran a hand down the span of his chest. He was going to worship Jimmy the way he deserved to be worshipped and damn whatever consequences may come later.

He kissed Jimmy one last time, good and proper with tongue and just a hint of teeth. Thomas pressed open mouthed kisses along the firm line of his jaw and darted his tongue against the sweet spot behind his ear. He continued down the curve of his neck, kissing and sucking at the sweet, salty skin until he reached Jimmy’s collarbone.

Thomas took a moment to nip at the skin there before curling his tongue experimentally around a nipple. Jimmy’s surprised gasp quickly turned into a wanton moan as he sucked on the nub gently and stroked circles into the flesh of Jimmy’s stomach with his good hand.

“Thomas… Thomas…” Jimmy breathed out shakily, raking his fingers roughly through Thomas’s pomaded air, setting carefully placed strands asunder.

Thomas groaned with pleasure at the sound of his given name tumbling from Jimmy’s beautiful mouth and released his nipple with a wet pop.

“I’m going to make you feel so good, Jimmy,” he growled into the taut skin of Jimmy’s abdomen. He could feel the muscles quivering beneath his mouth as he pressed open mouthed kisses down to his bellybutton.

Then Thomas slowly, cautiously dipped his fingers below the fabric of Jimmy’s trousers and then abruptly stopped, waiting for a blow that never came. Jimmy took a shaky breath and rolled his hips forward, encouraging Thomas onward.

He followed the soft downy hair he found there and ran the tips of his fingers along the warm length of Jimmy’s erection. Jimmy tightened his hold on Thomas’s hair, short nails digging into his scalp. He glanced up to check Jimmy’s reaction and watched as his head fell to the side, his mouth open in a silent moan.

Emboldened, Thomas wrapped long, slender fingers around Jimmy’s cock. He took a moment to revel in the warm heaviness of him in his hand and then decided to end Jimmy’s desperate whimpers by running his hand up and down the length of him in quick, firm strokes.

Thomas watched as Jimmy’s face crumpled with pleasure and pressed an adoring kiss just above his navel. He slid back up his body and mouthed along his neck, feeling the other man’s moans echo in his throat.

“No,” Jimmy grunted when Thomas began to increase his rhythm and batted his hand away weakly. “No.”

Thomas’s entire body froze. He pulled back as if he’d been slapped and looked down at Jimmy’s flushed face. “Jimmy? What?” He had thought for sure he was in the clear by now.

When Jimmy didn’t respond immediately Thomas began to move himself off of him, feeling as if he’d been splashed with icy cold water all over. Jimmy reached out and grabbed hold of his bicep firmly. Thomas looked back down to see his expressive face twisted up in a mixture of lust and frustration.

“Not like that, you dolt,” he spit out and tugged Thomas back down against him.

Thomas found himself at a complete loss. “Then… what?”

Jimmy blushed, actually _blushed_ , and Thomas felt his heart skip a beat. “I want…” he licked his lips and fixed his determined gaze on Thomas. “Your mouth.”

The sound of those two words sent a wave of heat straight to Thomas’s cock. His previously wilted erection hardened so quickly that it took his breath away. He pressed his forehead to Jimmy’s and closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath.

“With pleasure,” he replied breathlessly and kissed him soundly.

Jimmy tolerated the kiss for a few seconds before pulling away with a grimace. “Get on with it, will ya?” he gasped, rolling his hips up against Thomas’s to drive his point home.

Thomas smirked and pressed one last kiss to the corner of his mouth before snaking down his lean body. He tugged Jimmy’s trousers and underwear off and let them fall beside his undershirt on the floor. He then nipped and kissed his way up from Jimmy’s ankle to the inside of his muscular thigh. He pressed his teeth teasingly against the skin there, just below Jimmy’s straining erection, and chuckled at the tortured whine that came from the younger man.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, he ran his tongue along the head of Jimmy’s cock and moaned softly at the masculine taste and scent of him. Jimmy had to bite down on his fist to stop himself from crying out. With a self satisfied smirk he finally - finally - wrapped his lips around him.

Jimmy let out another strangled noise when Thomas relaxed his jaw and took him deep in his mouth. He hollowed his cheeks and sucked firmly on the warm, hard flesh.

“Oh god, that’s _fantastic_ ,” Jimmy groaned. He gripped at Thomas’s hair and tugged hard enough to hurt.

Thomas swatted his thigh in warning and waited for him to loosen his grip before he continued. Jimmy was falling apart beneath him as Thomas took turns sucking his cock and pulling back to run his tongue around the head, making the filthiest sounds despite the knuckles he had shoved between his lips to try and block them.

Jimmy let out a choked wailing sound when Thomas increased his pace and he had to brace his hands firmly on Jimmy’s hips to stop them from arching dramatically off the bed. He pinched the skin and tsked him playfully before wrapping his mouth around him again to resume his pace. Jimmy flailed, his hands desperately seeking purchase in the sheets twisted up beneath them. His hips moved in smaller, tinier thrusts as he gasped desperately for air.

“I can’t… oh God I can’t…” Jimmy whimpered, fingernails digging further into the sheets. Thomas could feel his muscles tensing and hummed around him, running two fingertips against his bollocks.

Jimmy let out a shaky moan and came into Thomas’s mouth. Thomas took every last drop of him and then lapped at his softening cock lovingly until he was clean. He rested his forehead against the jut of Jimmy’s hipbone and attempted to catch his breath. His heart was racing, leaving him dizzy, and he was so aroused it was nearly painful.

Finally he lifted his head and took in the sight of languid, spent Jimmy. His eyes were closed and his lips were trembling, forming soundless words as he traced circles aimlessly on his stomach. His blond hair was a messy halo around his head and his cheeks were flushed from exertion. He was the most beautiful thing Thomas had ever seen.

His heart ached from the sight as he stretched out to lay half on Jimmy and half on the tiny bit of cot left to him. He pressed a kiss to Jimmy’s shoulder and waited for his precious boy to come back to him.

Jimmy’s eyes finally fluttered open and he looked over at Thomas warily. “Um.” He shifted uncomfortably, pressing his hip against Thomas’s still present erection.

Jimmy gasped in surprise and Thomas looked away, his face warming with embarrassment. When he glanced back over Jimmy was looking at him with determination set in his face, as if Thomas were some sort of challenge. He trailed one hand down his belly until the tips of his fingers rested just below his trousers.

“You don’t have to--” Thomas attempted to tell him but was cut off when Jimmy inexpertly trailed a knuckle against his cock. He bit back the embarrassing noise he was about to make but couldn’t stop the way his hips rolled forward into the touch.

“I’m goin’ to do it proper, Mr. Barrow,” Jimmy informed him stiffly. He wrapped unsure, shaking fingers around Thomas’s cock.

Thomas should have been embarrassed that it only took a few clumsy strokes of Jimmy’s hand before he was grasping hold of him and whimpering wantonly against his neck as he came but he couldn’t bring himself to be. Not when he found himself curled up with him on his cot with nothing between but their labored breathing between them.

It felt like they had laid there for ages before Jimmy finally shifted away from him. He sat up and wiped his hand on the ratty blanket with a grimace.

“I’d better be going,” he said gruffly, looking anywhere but at Thomas.

“Jimmy--” Thomas tried but Jimmy had slipped out of his arms and was now standing by the bed gathering his clothes.

Thomas watched him dress quickly with practiced precision. He absently thought that Jimmy might make a good valet if he’d ever put in the effort and tried to focus on that instead of the dread that was pooling in his belly the longer Jimmy wouldn’t look at him.

When he finally did Jimmy had that practiced, cocky grin on his face that Thomas secretly hated.

“Thanks for showing me what was what, Mr. Barrow,” Jimmy said in a carefully controlled tone. “Good night.”

Jimmy gave him a curt nod and hurried out of the room before Thomas could come up with a response. With a loud, despondent sigh he lay back and closed his eyes. Tonight would not be a night for sleeping easily.


End file.
